Rail anchor



v V i" Feb. 18, 1930. I I w. MOCOLLQ 1,747,874

RAIL ANCHOR Filed June 29, 1929 0 I ii I Patented Feb. 18, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT ormce wILLm vr' Mcoo Lot/r, or CHICAGO, rnnmois, nss'renoaro STANDARD ,SELE-LQ'CK NUT corarAnxor M sKEGon, MICHIGAN, A conronarro v or MICHIGAN RAIL ANCHOR Application filed June 29,

from cree in alon the ties, It is well P a; a:

' known that'the'rails creep in the direction of travel taken by the trains over them, and several efforts have been made to overcome this difficulty with more or less success.

In most cases, the rail anchors become loosened or fall away from the rails, or otherwise become ineffective. I have overcome these obstacles by providing a device which may be formed of malleable iron for the purpose of economy, and having rail gripping jaws combined with a tie engaging shoulder which effectively prevent the rail from creeping and render it unlikely to become disconnected from the tie or loosen its grip on the rail.

The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rail anchor embodying a simple form of the present invention, and showing the same applied to a rail, the latter being shown in cross section;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1, part of the rail anchor being broken away to Illustrate its gripping connection with the rail; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rail anchor detached from the rail.

Referring to said drawing, which illustrates a simple embodiment of the present invention, the reference character 5 designates a fragment of a rail and 6 a fragment of a tie, both of conventional form. The rail is spiked to several ties, as is customary.

The rail anchor is seen at 7, and conveniently may be composed of a malleable iron casting, which gives it great strength, toughness and rigidity. The rail anchor comprises a metal block formed with a notch 9 projecting inwardly from one edge, the upper and lower faces 10 and 11 of which notch confornito the upper and lower faces 12 and 13 of the flange 14 of the rail.

The body of.

1929. Serial No. 374,770.

the block above and below the notch 9 forms jaws a and b which grip the rail flange and preventit from-creeping under the influence of moving trains. The faces 10 and 11 of the notch do not XtenCl at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the body of the rail anchor, but are inclined with respect thereto, as is more clearly seen in Fig. 2, whereby when the rail anchor is applied to the flange of the rail, it occupies an inclined position, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 2., I d i The upper edge'of the rail anchor may be arched or curved, as illustrated in Figs, 1 and 3, and its lower edge is preferably straight and formed at the corner which engages with the tie 6 with a rounded portion 15 which prevents chafing of the tie when the rail anchor is in action. As a preference, the side edges 16 and 17 slope in a lateral direction awayfrom the rail so as to bring a considerable portion of the lowerpart of. the body of the rail-anchor. beyond the flange, and at the lower corner farthest removed from therail is a vertical elongated hole 18 adapted for the reception of a spike 19, lag screw, or the like, which is driven into the tie 6 and serves merely for the purpose of preventing accidental disconnection between the rail anchor and the rail.

The rail anchor is applied to the rail by slippingthe same over the flange 14 of the railuntil it takes a position in which the in clined faces 10 and 11 of the notch 9 fit against the upper and lower-faces 12 and 13 of the rail flange. 1 The lower curved corner 15 of the rail anchor is placed against the side of the tie and the spike 19-or .otherholding element is inserted through the hole 18 and driven into the tie. In order to. obtain the best results, about five or siX of the rail anahorsshould be applied to each length of rai i. v

The arrow in Fig. 2 shows ,thedirection of travel taken mainly alongthe rail upon which the anchor is used. It will be observed that theinclined faces 10 and 11 of the notch .9 lie parallel with the upper and lower faces 12 and 13 of the rail flange whenthe-anchor is-in place, and that h ne er a t ain, runs over the rail in;the; dircol ie-I1 of the. was

thereon, any tendency for the rail to creep in the direction of the arrow is opposed by the rail anchor 7. Any slight movement of the rail in the direction of the arrow tends to swing the rail anchor upon its fulcrum, as at 15, towards an upright position, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and this tendency for the rail anchor to straighten up causes the jaws a and b of the rail anchor to impinge upon the upper and lower faces 12 and 13 of the rail flange and grip the same tightly, thereby preventing it from creeping or moving forward.

Considerable difficulty has been encoun tered with rail anchors owing to the kick back of the rails which occurs after a train has passed over the rail. With the present rail anchor any kick back of the rail may occur without loosening the rail anchor from its support, because when the rail moves back in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow, the edges 10 and 11 of the notch 9 assume a position parallel with the upper and lower faces 12 and 13 of the rail flange, thereby permitting the flange to freely slide through the notch.

In case the rail upon which the rail anchors are used is one in which the direction of travel is in both ways, then other rail anchors similar to the one described, areplaced upon the other edge of the flange 14 and faced in the opposite direction so as to prevent creeping of the rail in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A rail anchor comprising a body portion in the form of a metal block having a notch extending inwardly from one edge thereof and defining the upper and lower gripping the longitudinal axis of the body, the lower edge portion of said body being adapted to bear against a railroad tie, and there being a bolt hole in said lower portion, and a headed fastening member inserted through said bolt hole and driven into the tie.

4. A rail anchor comprising a body portion in the form of a metal block having a notch extending inwardly from one edge thereof and defining the upper and lower gripping faces of two flange gripping jaws, said faces being flat and conforming to the upper and lower faces of the rail flange and being inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body, whereby when placed upon a rail flange the body assumes an inclined position with the flat upper and lower faces of the notch coincident with the upper and lower faces of the rail flange, and means for securing said body to a railroad tie.

WILLIAM R. MCCOLLOM.

faces of two flange gripping jaws, said faces being flat and conforming to the upper and lower faces of the rail flange and being inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body, whereby when placed upon a rail flange the body assumes an inclined position with the flat upper and lower faces of the notch coincident with the upper and lower faces of the rail flange.

2. A rail anchor comprising a body portion having flange gripping jaws between which is a notch, the upper and lower faces of which conform to the upper and lower faces of the rail flan e and are inclined with respect to the longitu inal axis of the body, the lower edge portion of said body being adapted to bear against a railroad tie, and there being a bolt hole in said lower portion through which a fastening element may be inserted and secured in the tie.

3. A'rail anchor comprising a body portion having flange gripping jaws between which 'is a notch, the upper and lower faces of which conform to the upper and lower faces of the 'rail flange and are inclined with respect to 

